BGuthrie Photos: AZ -- Montezuma Castle Natl Monument -- Castle

AZ -- Montezuma Castle Natl Monument -- Castle:

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[23] MONTC_120720_083.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?) $Lifeline: Beaver Creek has always been a major focus of life in the Verde Valley. Prehistoric Sinagua farmers constructed Montezuma Castle and other structures near the creek. They dug ditches to carry creek water to irrigate the fields of corn, beans, squash, and cotton they cultivated on flat patches of creek-bottom land. They also hunted animals attracted by the creek, and gathered creekside plants.\ Ever-sensitive to the moods of Beaver Creek -- because their lives literally depended on it -- the Sinagua watched their lifeline change with the seasons. Sometimes -- seemingly in the blink of an eye -- the gentle, clear meander grew into a raging, muddy torrent, leaving debris stranded high in creekside trees.$	[24] MONTC_120720_086.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)	[25] MONTC_120720_089.JPG Medium (Email) (Bigger?)
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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. MONTC_120720_002.JPG: Trail to Montezuma Castle As you begin your walk, please remember that here at "The Castle" fragility is the condition and preservation is the rule. Damage to extremely fragile ancient walls and other architectural features began growing at an alarming rate when visitors first started coming to Montezuma castle in the 1930s. The cliff-dwelling had to be closed to the public in 1951. Your are on thousands of people who come here every year. Please do your part to help prevent further deterioration by allowing preservation to be your guide as you walk the trail to Montezuma Castle today.
2. MONTC_120720_006.JPG: Layers of Time: Take a close look at the cliffside above you. Become aware of layers in the rock. Each one of these strata was laid down in a different time period, during a processing beginning ten million years ago at the bottom of an enormous lake. Over eons, earth-pressures beneath the lake gradually changed limey mud layers into solid rock -- a limestone that geologists now call the Verde Formation. Over more eons, the lake drained. The Verde River and its tributaries cut channels through the dry lake-bottom sediments. Then wind and water began sculpting the caves and crevasses we see today in softer limestone layers.
3. MONTC_120720_019.JPG: Welcome to the Castle: Pause a few moments to enjoy this view of Montezuma Castle. Don't you suppose it must have stopped the settlers and soldiers who first saw the cliff-dwelling over a century ago? The odd name came from a mistaken belief that the cliff-dwelling was a castle Aztec refugees had built for their emperor. We know now that Montezuma never strayed this far north from his home in Mexico, but the name has stuck. Why did a community of prehistoric farmers choose this particular alcove high in the north wall of Beaver Creek for their home? For protection from the elements? The benefits of day-long solar heat afforded by its southern exposure? Defensibility against intruders? Tradition? The view? Or perhaps a combination of these theories?
4. MONTC_120720_029.JPG: The Community: A farming community of perhaps 200 people prospered here for more than three centuries. The Castle was home to 35 or so of these people. Archeologists suggest they may have fled what is today the Flagstaff area due to overpopulation around AD 1100. Their name, "Sinagua," is a variation of the Spanish "sin aqua," which means "without water." The excavation of mounds of broken pottery, worn-out tools, animal bones, and other trash at the base of the cliff has enabled archeologists to reconstruct some of the Sinagua's rich lifeways -- all reflections of their legitimate relationship with the land.
5. MONTC_120720_036.JPG: The Way Up: How in the world do you build a structure large enough to house 35 people high up on a steep canyon wall? Sound impossible? Here's how Montezuma Castle's ingenious Sinagua farmers managed it.
6. MONTC_120720_042.JPG: Construction Sequence: (1) Limestone ledges and caves before the castle was built. (2) First construction: a six-room unit (3rd floor). (3) Small room added at west (left) end; one room built on next (4th) floor. (4) Fourth floor expanded. Two rooms built in small cave (2nd floor). (5) Parapet and two rooms built at top (5th floor); three small rooms at front (1st, 2nd floors). (6) Three stacked rooms formed the central "tower" (1st, 2nd, 3rd floors). Small storage rooms may have been built earlier.
7. MONTC_120720_048.JPG: Prehistoric Produce: For Montezuma Castle's Sinagua residents, there was no dropping by the market to pick up a last-minute staple or two. If plants were needed, the Sinagua either had to grow them or find them already growing. An ancient tradition of living off the land taught them how, when, and where. Look for markers along the trail that identify some of the plants the Sinagua used.
8. MONTC_120720_058.JPG: What is that thing?? It's a honeycomb! Bees have been using this cave to make hives for years. In the winter you may not see them flying around, as they stay inside the comb to keep the queen warm. In the summer you can spot the bees flying around the comb! This colony has not bothered people and so we have left it alone. If the bees are aggressive to you, please run away quickly and tell a ranger immediately. The cave provides a near-perfect spot for the bees, as it gives good temperature control and is close to water and many different flowering plants. Those plants which the bees visit are important to use also -- about one third of the food we eat comes from plants pollenated by honeybees!
9. MONTC_120720_061.JPG: Honeycomb
10. MONTC_120720_065.JPG: The High Life: Ancient Sinagua farmers weren't the only creatures to seek out the ledges and caves in these limestone cliffs for homes. Watch for the movements -- and listen for the sounds -- of a surprising variety of cliffside animal neighbors.
11. MONTC_120720_066.JPG: The People Next Door: Here's another "castle" -- this one called "A" by the archeologists who excavated in in the 1930s. Like neighboring Montezuma Castle, Castle A was occupied by Sinagua farmers between AD 1200 and 1450. However, with 45 rooms and an estimated occupancy of 100, it was much larger. It's not nearly as well preserved because sometime before the Sinaguas' mysterious disappearance in the late 1400s a fire destroyed almost all interior features. All you can see today are parts of a few collapsed walls and a partially reconstructed foundation.
12. MONTC_120720_083.JPG: Lifeline: Beaver Creek has always been a major focus of life in the Verde Valley. Prehistoric Sinagua farmers constructed Montezuma Castle and other structures near the creek. They dug ditches to carry creek water to irrigate the fields of corn, beans, squash, and cotton they cultivated on flat patches of creek-bottom land. They also hunted animals attracted by the creek, and gathered creekside plants.\ Ever-sensitive to the moods of Beaver Creek -- because their lives literally depended on it -- the Sinagua watched their lifeline change with the seasons. Sometimes -- seemingly in the blink of an eye -- the gentle, clear meander grew into a raging, muddy torrent, leaving debris stranded high in creekside trees.
13. MONTC_120720_095.JPG: The Neighborhood: You can see Montezuma Castle and Castle A from here. If you closely at the cliffside, you might spot other ledges and caves used by the Sinagua. The Sinagua people who made their home here may have been a closely-knit community of families and friends. Even though the trappings of civilization change over time, people's social needs don't. Take a moment to imagine busy villagers doing their daily chores, perhaps chatting about the weather, crops, an upcoming hunt, or a recent death in the community. Mysteriously, the neighborhood began to break up sometime around AD 1400. Within 50 years, Montezuma Castle was completely deserted.
14. MONTC_120720_102.JPG: Mysterious Departures: Life must have been good. The Sinagua farmed beside Beaver Creek, and lived in their large, carefully constructed villages for 300 years. It's obvious they came to stay, and built to last -- yet sometime in the 1400s, they mysteriously began to leave. Could the reason have been disease? Drought? Overpopulation, resulting in scarce farmland and game? Invasion, or inter-group strife? The breakup of trade networks? No one really knows why they left, or where they went -- but Hopi Indian legends and lifeways suggest the Sinagua may have joined them on their mesas to the northeast.
15. MONTC_120720_131.JPG: Windows in the Past: Cliffside home to three centuries of resourceful Sinagua farmers, Montezuma Castle has clung tenaciously to its limestone ledge for more than 800 years. But, over time, weather -- and people -- have taken their toll. We can't control the ongoing damage caused by weather, but with your help we can stop the clock on the wear and tear people bring. Remember that fragility is the condition and preservation is the rule here at Montezuma Castle and at ruins scattered all over the American Southwest. Only through preservation can we reveal fascinating aspects of our Nation's ancient past, and learn from them.
16. MONTC_120720_134.JPG: Life in the Verde Valley: Tuzigoot: For centuries, this village of stone and timber above the Verde River was an active trading center for many different Indian groups to the north. A rich collection of tools, ceramics and craft products found during archeological excavations is on display. The name used six centuries ago for this village is unknown. Archaeologists named it "Tuzigoot" which means "crooked water" in the Apache language. The Yavapai people, residents of the Verde Valley today, call it "Ichikiyukanuwa." Montezuma Castle: About fifty people once made the dark and smoky rooms of Montezuma Castle their home. They spent most of their time outside on the rooftops, or in the woods and fields below. If the Sinagua weren't hiding, why did they built fifty feet up in the cliff? Mostly, it was for practical reasons. They took advantage of an alcove to save building four walls and a roof. They knew that shady, insulated alcoves were cool in the summer, yet warm in winter. They saved level land by the streams for farming. Montezuma Well: Half filled with spring water, this limestone depression or "sink" is uncommon due to its symmetry and size. The people called Hohokan and Sinagua built dwellings around it and along its edge. From the well outlet, they dug irrigation ditches to divert water to their fields. The site is important to several tribes of today, including many Hopi clans who trace their ancestors to these settlements. Today it is administered as a unit of Montezuma Castle National Monument.
17. MONTC_120720_138.JPG: Surrounded by Neighbors: Though Montezuma Castle may seem remote, by 1300 it was part of a complex network of at least 40 Verde Valley villages. Between 6,000 and 8,000 people may have lived in the valley and its surrounding uplands. Many Hopi people say Montezuma Castle and the numerous other villages in the valley were built and occupied by clans migrating in waves from the south. The villages here were springboards to settlements further north, and ultimately to villages on the Hopi Mesas. In their view, the Verde Valley was simply a temporary stop in a larger journey, and not the final destination for these people.
18. MONTC_120720_143.JPG: Corridor of Exchange: The Verde Valley forms the most easily traveled route from the southern, lowland deserts onto high Colorado Plateau in the north. People here could trade for resources from both regions and pass them on, facilitating the exchange of goods -- and ideas. Trade contacts also allowed them to export local items like fine textiles, salt, and argillite pendants, beads, and carvings. They were undoubtedly an essential strand in the complex network of Southwest life.
19. MONTC_120720_145.JPG: The Sinagua World: Survival requires knowing your resources. The Sinagua found chert, copper, argillite and salt here in the Verde Valley. The Sinagua also had resources beyond the valley. Obsidian for projectile points came from the San Francisco Peaks to the north. The Mogollon Rim to the east provided plants and wild game. They trades with the Hohokam to the south. Their knowledge of the world extended over thousands of square miles.
20. MONTC_120720_152.JPG: All About Location: Many communities today sprawl over thousands of acres, huge networks of roads and utilities connecting homes to necessities. The Castle neighborhood, which included numerous sites along the cliff face, was compact and covered only a few acres of land. Water, plant and animal resources, and farmland were all nearby. Homes Against the Cliff... These cliffside homes were multi-use structures that met the needs of many. Each family occupied one room, leaving the rest for storage, workspace, meetings, and ceremonies. ... For Good Reasons Builders were adapted to the natural contours of the land. Against south-facing cliffs, homes were more comfortable -- shaded in summer and sun-warmed in winter. Building against the bluffs also left farmland unobstructed, resulting in more room to grow food and cotton.
21. MONTC_120720_155.JPG: Why did they build here? Home Improvement: Held together with mud mortar and sealed with plaster, buildings required regular upkeep. Like all pueblos, the Castle was added onto, remodeled, and repaired throughout its life. Annual replastering sustained buildings and cultural traditions over generations.
22. MONTC_120720_157.JPG: Montezuma Castle, the most visible building complex of the Sinagua in this area, was constructed in phases. The people added to it gradually -- perhaps from the 1130s to the early 1400s. At its greatest development, the structure included portals and "viewing slots." Some passageways in the walls and ceilings were opened or closed indicating that home improvements may have been done during the overall building process.
23. MONTC_120720_159.JPG: The Montezuma Myth: American explorers gave the name Montezuma to local features in the 1800s believing that Aztec Indians of Mexico built them. The names persist, although the 16th century Aztec leader had no connection.
24. MONTC_120720_161.JPG: Enter the People: The human journey leading to the Sinagua and their departure from the Verde Valley can be traced for 14,000 years.
25. MONTC_120720_163.JPG: Early Nomads -- 12000 BC to AD 1. 2500 BC -- The Great Pyramid is built. They came as nomads, living off the land.
26. MONTC_120720_167.JPG: Villages / Trading -- AD 70 to AD 1125 AD 430 -- Roman Empire begins decline. AD 1000 -- Vikings land on North American continent. The Sinagua were at the crossroads of earth trade routes. Trade Routes: Montezuma Castle was at the center of trade routes that connected the California coast and the plains of eastern New Mexico at AD 1100. Trade: The Sinagua would trade their salt, agrillite, and cotton with other groups as they traveled along the river. Villages: Masonry houses started to appear alongside of the pit houses of the Hohokam. Farming: The farming of corn, beans and squash using irrigation methods was most likely learned from the Hohokam. Hohokam: The first farmers in the Verde Valley arrived between AD 700 and 900. Sinagua: The Sinagua joined the Hohokam about AD 1125.
27. MONTC_120720_174.JPG: Saga of Preservation: By the late 1800s, Montezuma Castle had become a popular destination for curious travelers, military personnel from nearby Fort Verde, and local settlers. They braved bumpy dirt roads in carriages or on horseback to visit. Many took souvenir artifacts or carved their names on roof beams -- both acceptable acts at that time. A lucrative market for "prehistoric curiosities" tempted others. By the early 1900s, little was left from the people who lived at Montezuma Castle. In 1906, concerned citizens and scholars succeeded in protecting the Castle, and it was set aside as one of America's first national monuments. Visitors were allowed to climb up and explore Montezuma Castle until 1951. That year, the completion of the new highway (now I-17) led to surging visitation. The Castle was too fragile for the increased traffic and had to be closed. Since visitors cannot go inside today, a diorama on the trail shows what the Castle's interior looked like.
28. MONTC_120720_176.JPG: The Best Years -- AD 1125 to AD 1425 AD 1200 -- Notre Dame Cathedral completed in Paris. The Sinagua flourished -- then mysteriously left? AD 1250 to 1400: Excellent farming attracted more and more people. Beside the fertile stream banks many great pueblos were built including Tuzigoot and Montezuma Castle. AD 1425: Departure! The pueblos were empty. Why did they leave?
29. MONTC_120720_181.JPG: The Spanish -- AD 1450 to AD 1600 The world begins a major change. AD 1492 -- Columbus lands in West Indies. AD 1512 -- Michelangelo paints Sistine Chapel ceiling. They came, they looked, they left. AD 1583 -- Antonio de Espejo was the first European to come upon the silent, empty pueblo villages. AD 1598 -- Captain Marco Farfan explored the Verde Valley in search of riches, but decided that copper mining was too labor intensive. AD 1605 -- Governor Onate passed through the valley on his way to Mexico. No Europeans would enter the valley for the another 221 years.
30. MONTC_120720_187.JPG: Army/Settlers -- AD 1800 to AD 1900 The United States of America is born. AD 1775 -- American revolution begins in Concord, MA. AD 1776 -- Signing the Declaration of Independence. The Good and the Bad AD 1826 -- A group including Kit Carson comes to the Valley. AD 1864 -- King Woolsey names "Montezuma Well" pueblos thinking they are Aztec ruins. AD 1884 -- Edgar A. Mearns does first digging at Montezuma Castle. AD 1892 -- Cosmos Mindleoff surveys Verde Valley. Fort Verde -- 1875: Fort Verde maintains order. Early Settlers -- around 1870. During this period, pot hunters, sometimes called "thieves of time," ransacked the ruins for artifacts.
31. MONTC_120720_193.JPG: Preservation -- AD 1906 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Montezuma Castle becomes a national monument. December 8, 1906 -- A Presidential Proclamation was signed by President Theodore Roosevelt setting aside 160 acres to preserve Montezuma Castle as a national monument. On February 23, 1937, 366 acres were added to the area to give Montezuma Castle additional protection.
32. MONTC_120720_199.JPG: More Than Just Buildings: At a glance, Montezuma Castle is a testament to the impressive skills of a people capable of constructing a five-story home in the side of a cliff. But the Castle, however inspiring, is much more than a building. The remains of this community inspire us to wonder. How did they sustain a village in the midst of a desert for over 300 years? Could we do the same? What ideas did they learn from other cultures who came here to trade? What was it like for small groups and families to leave their homes when the time came for migration?
33. MONTC_120720_201.JPG: The Journey Continues: The Sinagua farmers did not disappear. Their descendants still remain among the Hopi, Zuni, and other Puebloan groups. The Vavapai also share a connection with the Castle's inhabitants. O'odham peoples of southern Arizona tell us their ancestors traded with the Verde Valley people. Modern cultural connections to Montezuma Castle are rich and complex.
34. MONTC_120720_208.JPG: Moving Away: Moving Away: "... where people stopped and built homes are all sacred places. No matter if they passed on, the people who couldn't travel stayed in the homes. Their spirits are there in all the sites. All the sites are sacred to us." -- A Zuni Tribal Member Hopi believe their ancestors purposefully settled and left villages for a reason. Though they lived here for hundreds of years, the community surrounding Montezuma Castle was never intended to be their final home. When the people stayed too long in one place and failed to lead moral and responsible lives, they say, social and environmental catastrophes reminded them of their destiny to move on. In other instances, astronomical events were signals to continue migrations.
35. MONTC_120720_210.JPG: Moving Away: Archeology suggests some farming groups began leaving the valley during the late 1300s. Disease, conflict, disrupted trade networks, depleted soils, and changing, unpredictable weather patterns could all have combined to decisions to leave. Over the course of decades, one by one, families left the Verde Valley and moved on to other places.
36. MONTC_120720_215.JPG: This Land is Home: While the Verde Valley's Native farmers moved on by around 1425, others -- more reliant on hunting and gathering -- remained. They are represented today by the Wipukpaia (Northeastern Yavapai) and the Dil zho e (Tonto Apache). Both share a belief that Montezuma Well is their place of origin. The hunter-gatherer lifestyle demanded portable and lightweight belongings; these mobile minimalists lived very lightly on the land. They survived environmental changes and social pressures through flexibility -- at least until the arrival of the Euro-American settlers in the 1860s.
37. MONTC_120720_218.JPG: This Land is Home: In the mid-1800s, the westward advancing United States began to beset Native peoples in Arizona. Many were forced to relinquish their land or be killed. Today's Indian reservations include only a fraction of the lands once used. Nevertheless, more Native peoples remain on parts of their traditional lands in the Southwest than anywhere else in the contiguous Untied States. Despite relocations and attempts to impose a foreign way of life, each group retains much of their rich culture, tradition, and history.
38. MONTC_120720_223.JPG: What's In A Name? Sinagua? Throughout the Verde Valley and north central Arizona, you may hear and read the word Sinagua as the name of the prehistoric people who once lived here. But no Native group has ever called themselves that. In the early 1900s, it was common for southwestern archeologists to classify and name various culture areas based on similarities in pottery, tools, building styles, and burial practices. We will likely never know what names or borders prehistoric people might have used for themselves. Dr. Harold S. Colton, founder of Flagstaff's Museum of Northern Arizona, coined the term in the 1930s for the culture area there. He took it from the early Spanish explorers' name for the nearby San Francisco Peaks: la sierra sin agua, the mountains without water. Though water is plentiful in the Verde Valley, the name he chose was later applied here, too.
39. MONTC_120720_225.JPG: What's in a Name? Montezuma was Never Here: Though we call this place Montezuma Castle today, the descendants of its inhabitants know it by other names. To the Hopi, it is both Sakaytaka and Wupat'pela -- the "place where the deep ladders are going up" and "long, high walls." Montezuma Castle is among their most important ancestral sites in the Verde Valley. Hopi consultants say the Parrot, Bear, Water, Cloud, Bearstrap, Bluebird, and Spider clans all resided here.
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Wikipedia Description: Montezuma Castle National Monument
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Montezuma Castle National Monument, located near Camp Verde, Arizona, in the Southwestern United States, features well-preserved cliff dwellings. They were built and used by the Pre-Columbian Sinagua people around 1400 AD. Several Hopi clans trace their roots to immigrants from the Montezuma Castle/Beaver Creek area. Clan members periodically return to their former homes for religious ceremonies. When European Americans discovered them in the 1850s, they reported native traditions recalling they had been built by a divine hero named Montezuma; whose name may have been connected with the well-known historical Aztec emperor of Mexico, Moctezuma II, and accounts in Spanish as early as 1694 reference them as the "Casas de Montezuma". Some of these accounts have led to a mistaken belief that the Spanish or Americans themselves had named them after the emperor.

Cliff Dwelling:

The last known record of Sinagua occupation for any sites are for Montezuma Castle National Monument around 1425 AD. The reasons for abandonment of their habitation sites are not yet known, but warfare, drought, and clashes with the newly-arrived Yavapai people have been suggested. The five-story stone and mortar dwellings contain 20 rooms and once housed about 50 people. A natural overhang shades the rooms and shelters them from rain. Another part of the cliff wall bears the marks of an even larger dwelling, which has not survived.

The dwellings and the surrounding area were declared a U.S. National Monument on December 8, 1906. The National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

This is an easy monument to visit, a short distance off Interstate 17, exit 287. There is a paved trail of 1/4 mile from the visitor center along the base of the cliff containing the ruins. Access to the ruins has not been allowed since 1950.

Montezuma Well:

Montezuma Well is a separa ...More...
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- 2003_AZ_Montezuma_Castle: AZ -- Montezuma Castle Natl Monument -- Castle (3 photos from 2003)
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [Indians] [Park (National Park Service)]
2012 photos: Equipment this year: My mainstays were the Fuji S100fs, Nikon D7000, and the new Fuji X-S1. I also used an underwater Fuji XP50 and a Nikon D600. The first three cameras all broke this year and had to be repaired. Trips this year: three Civil War Trust conferences (Shepherdstown, WV, Richmond, VA, and Williamsburg, VA), a week-long family reunion cruise of the Caribbean, another week-long family reunion in the Wisconsin Dells (with lots of in-transit time in Ohio and Indiana), and my 7th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including side trips to Zion, Bryce, the Grand Canyon, etc). Ego strokes: I had a picture of Miss DC, Ashley Boalch, published in the Washington Post. I had a photograph of the George Segal San Francisco Holocaust memorial used as the cover of Quebec Francais (issue 165). Not being able to read French, I'm not entirely sure what the article is about but, hey! And I guess what could be considered to be a positive thing, my site is now established enough that spammers have noticed it and I had to block 17,000 file description postings for Viagra and whatever else.. Number of photos taken this year: just below 410,000.
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].